Tranny gave up while towing a trailer

AW4 ,242 ,
Well i've spent hours searching and reading but have not seen the exact same thing .The other day I was on the interstate doing about 60 on a very slight up hill towing my empty flatbed trailer (15' bed car hauler)and it seemed like it poped into neutral .I played with the shifter a bit and made sure it was in gear but I could rev it as high as I wanted and nothing .I coasted to the side and it started to "catch" so in drive at about 4000 rpm I could do about 20mph to get to a better spot .I checked the fluid ,not burnt or dirty and full.Put it back in gear and after reving it very high a few times it would start to budge a little .I'll skip to the main part-

If I turn the jeep off and wait from one to two minutes it will go forward and reverse just fine (enough to get it on the trailer)for a couple of minutes then start "slipping" slowy for a couple of seconds until I can rev it as high as I want with out even a budge .Then I'll turn it off and wait for a few minutes
and the cycle starts over again .As it starts slipping it grabs off and on like its trying but not for long . I don't know much of a history on it ,I just bought it but it's an 89 laredo Aw4 ,242,146,000 miles ,Has anyone seen something like this before ?

it has to come out man. Might be the pump. have you checked your fluid since it gave up. it probably doesn't look as good as it did at first. the clutches are probably smoked now from slipping so bad.

Well, it could just be the torque converter. It'll behave that way when the converter ends its relationship with the engine. And that would explain why your fluid isn't burnt.

It happened to me that way, had to have the converter replaced (1996 2WD, AW4, 95k miles). Then the new converter started slipping, & caused a leak (98k miles). Turned out that the mechanic that installed the replacement converter did not replace a 'bushing' between the converter and the engine output shaft, so the shaft of the new converter was wearing down. New 'bushing' and another new torque converter, and all was well. Total cost was $850 (I got some of my money back on the first converter--the second converter was about $600)

Then I had the tranny shop add a remote tranny cooler. Add tax to all that, & I spent nearly $1000.

Moral of the story: make sure you get the right diagnosis the first time around, and, if it is the torque converter, make sure they replace that bushing or whatever it is that is between the engine output shaft and the torque converter's shaft.

Admitedly, and thankfully, I have no experience with what you describe. But, all the way through your post, I was thinking torque converter and remembering that a highly thought-of transmission shop here in Portland told me that's one of the finest transmissions ever made . . . they had, in their history, only rebuilt or replaced ONE . . . and, in that case, the transmission fluid line broke and the fellow kept driving until it would go no further . . . Don

hey big sky, if you want my full story look under search for a thread titled "AW4 search", that was my mess, not to contradict anyone who thinks its the tC, which is possible but not likely, i just replaced my tranny to convert to 4wd and when i started it up after the swap i could put it in all gears and rev it threw the roof with no response at the output shaft.., as it turned out the oil pump was bad, it was an easy fix since i had the old tranny laying around...sounds to me like that may be your problem...
Maier
also check that thread and look for storydude's posts as he posted up a really helpfully manual regarding the AW4...

The computer can get confused and cause a 'neutral' feeling also. Managed to get mine in this situation when swapping it into my TJ. First I'd suggest pulling the plug on the computer and seeing if it shifts correctly.

checkout the manual testing section of this

http://www.stu-offroad.com/engine/aw4/aw4_manual.pdf

that would rule out the computer pretty quickly.

Jason

Just got back home ,Thanks for the Ideas ,I'll post the verdict soon hopefully .